At 81, Ernie Oriente still packs a punch

He hits the speed bag faster than the rat-a-tat of a drum roll. His fists become a blur as a smile slowly moves over his face. He is in his element and lost in the rhythm of the bag.

Ernie Oriente at the speed-bag photo provided by Alix Redmonde

But this isn’t a teenager with an exercise induced adrenalin rush. This is a man of a certain age. Don’t let that throw you. The only thing old about 81-year-old Ernie Oriente is that he is old-school: the kind of man you see in movies about boxers and men of an era when fedoras were de rigueur and women were called "doll."

Ernie fell in love with boxing more than 65 years ago. “We didn’t have television back then," he said, "so we had to find out where the fun was going to be. Some gyms opened up in town that were free, it was beautiful and we had professional fighters come to teach us how to box and fight and how to hit the bag.”

Ernie said boxing kept him out of trouble, gave him somewhere to be and something to do. He likened it to karate and having a black belt on. “When you have that belt on, no one is gonna mess with you,” he said. “The same thing with boxing. I was born in the concrete jungle. If you didn’t know how to handle yourself in boxing, you were in bad shape.”

Now, he teaches others how to hit the speed-bag and attributes his good health and mental clarity to his training.

"You start with a basic rhythm, then you do doubles, add fist-rolls, your elbow strikes, and there are more moves," he said. "You come back and do a side punch, then go back to the front again. I’m 81, and there’s very few people walking around with the arms and the strength that I have. It’s a great feeling, I hit this bag an hour or two sometimes and when I'm done with that, I've had quite a workout.”

Watching Ernie is intimidating, but fear not. When he teaches, it’s all in slow motion, so you learn the technique. As you improve, you pick up speed. Needless to say, my technique and speed need work (check out the video). He explained linking the punching combinations into a rhythm is what all fledgling boxers try to achieve.

If you’ve taken boxing classes, some moves will be familiar, like a jab and a straight. But Ernie added: “The bag goes in different directions to create different rhythms.”

Although Ernie trained to be a boxer, he never actually boxed. He loves to train and teach and is nationally and internationally certified through Alan Khan, the master of the speed-bag.

Among his other accomplishments, he built speed bag installations at a university in Prague, where he taught 7,500 people. Ernie has been a YMCA member since 1955, a Big Brother for 10 years and worked with Special Olympics athletes as a speed skater.

Alix Redmonde

Alix Redmonde has been a fitness expert for more than 25 years and has taught fitness on three continents. She has written for magazines including Men’s Exercise, Exercise for Men Only, Fitness, Shape and Elle. She has also appeared on the Food Network, CBNC, WNYW-TV, among others, promoting a healthy lifestyle. Redmonde is coauthor of the book “It’s Great to be Different,” which teaches children confidence, esteem and self-respect.
Redmonde lives in Sarasota with her three dogs, six cats, two doves and a thoroughbred horse.
She can be reached by email

Last modified: May 17, 2013
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